SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
US Space Force launches first mission despite coronavirus
Washington, March 26 (AFP) Mar 26, 2020
The United States Space Force launched its first national security mission Thursday, sending an ultra-secure military communication satellite into orbit even as the coronavirus pandemic paralyzes much of the country.

The Lockheed Martin Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 4:18 pm (2018 GMT) aboard an Atlas V551 rocket.

AEHF-6, as the satellite is called, is the sixth and final in the Lockheed Martin AEHF constellation.

It will join the other five, which were launched between 2010 and 2019, on Friday around 0400 GMT after reaching geostationary orbit.

The satellite constellation provides "global, survivable, protected communications capabilities for strategic command and tactical warfighters operating on ground, sea and air platforms," according to Lockheed Martin.

And it gives "senior leadership a survivable line of communications to military forces in all levels of conflict, including nuclear war," it said.

The system features encryption, a low probability of interception and detection, and it is jammer-resistant and able to penetrate the electro-magnetic interference caused by nuclear weapons, it added.

The White House announced the creation of the new Space Force military arm in December, with President Donald Trump calling space "the world's newest warfighting domain."

el/bfm/mdl

LOCKHEED MARTIN


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Axiom private mission to ISS delayed because of weather
Trump-Musk showdown threatens US space plans
Japanese company aborts Moon mission after assumed crash-landing

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Leaders warn race for minerals could turn seabed into 'wild west'
China carefully assembling a deep-sea mining strategy
China, South Korea must safeguard free trade, Xi tells Lee

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Iran says has intel to strike Israel in response to 'any' attack on nuclear sites
Iran says to submit own nuclear proposal to US soon
NATO learns as Ukraine's 'creativity' changes battlefield

24/7 News Coverage
World leaders urged to step up for overexploited oceans
Farmed production of some fish - and seaweed - is soaring
What is the high seas treaty?



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.